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Twenty years before Ice Pilots became a realty show hit, aviation videographer Henry Tenby was video documenting the vibrant Yellowknife aviation scene in the mid 1990s while employed by local airline NWT Air.

At the time, Henry knew the place was unique in the world of aviation, so he endeavoured to film as much as he could between the years 1993 and 1996, using a Hi-8 video camera that he acquired in 1991. Living in Yellowknife and working at the airport, provided easy and frequent access to all the comings and goings on in all seasons, and this video captures all the flavours of operators that made Yellowknife the famous place that it has become in the ranks of worldwide aviation fans.

All the operators of the day are included in the DVD, namely Air Tindi, Ptarmigan Airways, First Air, NWT Air, Canadian North, Conair, and Buffalo Airways. You'll see winter, Spring, summer and fall operations, including everything from Beavers to Boeing, wheels to floats to skis, airport to float base to water bombers.

Plenty of footage filmed on the main Yellowknife apron features Canadian North and NWT Air Boeing 737-200s and Bradley/First Air HS748s. You'll witness passengers boarding, cargo handling, engine starts, taxi and runway action with superior noise qualities. In Old Town Yellowknife there's extensive footage of Air Tindi Twin Otters, Turbine Otters and Beavers on wheels, skis and floats.

Hard core propliner fans will be pleased to see an extensive filming report on the Conair water bomber base with DC-6, CL-215 and Tracker action. There's no talking here .. just non-stop engines, taxi and take-off sequences. Buffalo Airways took the GNWT fire fighting contract away from BC-based Conair in the mid 1990s, so this twenty year old footage is a very special memory from an era in the distant past. Air Tindi's Caribou and the Ptarmigan stretch G-1 make very welcomed cameo appearances along with the occasional Buffalo DC-3 and DC-4 and the the Plummer's Lodge Douglas DC-3 (captured in taxi, take-off and air-to-air!)

All in all, this DVD has something for everyone, except the "Ice Pilots NWT" drama. We're serving up 76 minutes of non-stop aviation footage, and invite you to sit back, relax, and strap in to enjoy the ride.

DVD Programs

Chapter 2) 737-275C N331XV air-to-air

Chapter 3) Winter lake ops

Chapter 4) YZF Boeing 737-200 action

Chapter 5) Wheels and skiis

Chapter 6) NWT Air dispatch office

Chapter 7) YZF main ramp

Chapter 8) Old Town float base

Chapter 9) Conair DC-6, Trackers, CL-215s

Chapter 10) Float base action

Chapter 11) Classic props YZF

Chapter 12) 737-200 action

Chapter 13) More HS748

Chapter 14) Boeing 737-200s

Chapter 15) Summer float base

This DVD is available in NTSC region-free format which will work on all current European DVD players

NWT Air's fleet of three Boeing 737-200Cs linked the sparsely inhabited Northwest Territories with the Air Canada mainline, until the company was sold in 1997. Between 1993 and 1996, former NWT Air employee and aviation fan Henry Tenby enthusiastically filmed as much of the Boeing 737-200 action as he could with the kind support of fellow employees who appear in the DVD.

Being fortunate to ride in the jump seat on many flights between Yellowknife, Edmonton and Calgary, Henry filmed a number of these sectors from the cockpit perspective and those video clips appear in this DVD. The DVD opens with a short air-to-air sequence of 737-275C N331XV performing touch-and-goes at Yellowknife airport.

The 70 minute DVD continues with lots of footage from the passenger cabin which includes pre flight safety demonstrations, in-flight service, and interviews with the flight attendants, and even a humorous visit to the company's dispatch office in Yellowknife. NWT Air had no shortage of colourful employees!

Lots of exterior footage of NWT Air Boeing 737-200 action is also featured on this DVD, mostly filmed in Yellowknife, with engine starts, taxi sequences, and take-offs. You'll see fleet numbers 661 and 662 (C-GNWN and C-GNWI) as well as the leased Polaris basic model 737, the old 1969 build former Pacific Western 737-275C N331XV, which was known as 663 at NWT Air. It was also humorously referred to as the "J" model 737, for reasons explained on the DVD.

Any lover of the 737-200 classics will find this DVD very interesting, as it serves up an enjoyable mix of cockpit, cabin and exterior action footage, and is complemented with a nice amount of "real people" footage. We've even included a nice surprise party scene when a long serving Captain was recognized for his service to the company. This DVD provides a wonderful look back to the mid 1990s when NWT Air and the Boeing 737-200 were top of their game.

DVD Programs

Chapter 2) 737-275C N331XV air-to-air

Chapter 3) Queen's visit to Rankin Inlet AUG 22/94

Chapter 4) Flightdeck ride YEG-YYC APR 9/93

Chapter 5) Flightdeck ride YZF-YEG FEB 13/93

Chapter 6) Flightdeck ride YEG-YYC FEB 13/93

Chapter 7) N331XV exterior footage YZF summer '93

Chapter 8) Flightdeck ride YZF-YEG FEB 19/94

Chapter 9) Flightdeck ride YEG-YYC FEB 19/94

Chapter 10) NWT Air dispatch office YZF

Chapter 11) Cabin YZF-YEG JAN 13/96

Chapter 12) Flightdeck YEG-YYC JAN 13/96

Chapter 13) Flightdeck landing YYC JAN 13/96

Chapter 14) Captain 20 Years service

Total running time: 70 minutes

This DVD is available in NTSC region-free format which will work on all current European DVD players